In case you missed this in another post I thought it might be worthwhile to re-post it here in a separate thread-
Also- last night somewhere in the wee hours the next door neighbor's dog started barking. This was a very distinct bark too, unlike anything I'd heard before. More like a warning bark. Very frantic, with growling.
This is an outside dog, and he doesn't usually bark unless it's a critter that has entered his area. Being a rather light sleeper, I heard it plainly and also heard his chain being pulled around as he must have been patrolling his perimeter. After 10 min or so this ceased and I fell back asleep.
Just a few minutes ago I went out to get the mail, and the neighbor who owned the dog apologised for the disturbance. He went on to say that he heard the barking and went out on his upper deck with a flashlight and a gun, thinking that there may be a bugler.
What he discovered was a young black bear climbing my tree in my back yard! He said it wasn't very large and showed me the size with his hands. And that his mother must have been nearby, so didn't go down for fear of her lurking somewhere nearby!
By this time his dog had quieted down, and he left the bear to do whatever he or she needed to.
Can't say I found any marks on my tree, but glad I wasn't leaving for the brewery just then! I guess they don't call my neighborhood Wilderness Rim for nothing!
:shock:
Cheers,
RR
To follow up, yesterday I did in fact see something that looked quite like indentations of the tree that had what might've looked like claw marks. But there again they could also have been made by the Pileated Woodpeckers we also have here. Still, it did rather look like something had been climbing up, such were the space of the impressions.
My neighbor was home when I went out to get the mail, and I showed him the marks on the tree. He confirmed that this was indeed from the bear cub, and showed me how they climb trees and use their back feet for anchoring and therefore tear into the tree bark.
He went on to say that when he spotted the cub in the wee hours with his flashlight it was a good 30' up the tree and resting on the branches. So it seems like his dog barking scared the cub, and he ran for cover in my tree.
My neighbor also told me that this bear cub had been responsible for several other occurrences nearby. Apparently he (or she) had knocked down a fence a couple houses away, and also brought down branches on an apple tree in an effort to get at the apples. Also that someone's trash can had been ravaged, yet this could also be from roving dogs as so oftentimes happens here.
Still, it looks like this bear cub has been frequenting our section the 'hood for some little while under cover of darkness. And as for the mother, my neighbor felt the the cub was on his own as no larger bear had been spotted recently in proximity.
Guess I'll double down on caution when the dark is upon us!
:silent:
Cheers,
RR
Also- last night somewhere in the wee hours the next door neighbor's dog started barking. This was a very distinct bark too, unlike anything I'd heard before. More like a warning bark. Very frantic, with growling.
This is an outside dog, and he doesn't usually bark unless it's a critter that has entered his area. Being a rather light sleeper, I heard it plainly and also heard his chain being pulled around as he must have been patrolling his perimeter. After 10 min or so this ceased and I fell back asleep.
Just a few minutes ago I went out to get the mail, and the neighbor who owned the dog apologised for the disturbance. He went on to say that he heard the barking and went out on his upper deck with a flashlight and a gun, thinking that there may be a bugler.
What he discovered was a young black bear climbing my tree in my back yard! He said it wasn't very large and showed me the size with his hands. And that his mother must have been nearby, so didn't go down for fear of her lurking somewhere nearby!
By this time his dog had quieted down, and he left the bear to do whatever he or she needed to.
Can't say I found any marks on my tree, but glad I wasn't leaving for the brewery just then! I guess they don't call my neighborhood Wilderness Rim for nothing!
:shock:
Cheers,
RR
To follow up, yesterday I did in fact see something that looked quite like indentations of the tree that had what might've looked like claw marks. But there again they could also have been made by the Pileated Woodpeckers we also have here. Still, it did rather look like something had been climbing up, such were the space of the impressions.
My neighbor was home when I went out to get the mail, and I showed him the marks on the tree. He confirmed that this was indeed from the bear cub, and showed me how they climb trees and use their back feet for anchoring and therefore tear into the tree bark.
He went on to say that when he spotted the cub in the wee hours with his flashlight it was a good 30' up the tree and resting on the branches. So it seems like his dog barking scared the cub, and he ran for cover in my tree.
My neighbor also told me that this bear cub had been responsible for several other occurrences nearby. Apparently he (or she) had knocked down a fence a couple houses away, and also brought down branches on an apple tree in an effort to get at the apples. Also that someone's trash can had been ravaged, yet this could also be from roving dogs as so oftentimes happens here.
Still, it looks like this bear cub has been frequenting our section the 'hood for some little while under cover of darkness. And as for the mother, my neighbor felt the the cub was on his own as no larger bear had been spotted recently in proximity.
Guess I'll double down on caution when the dark is upon us!
:silent:
Cheers,
RR
